More Than Meets the Eye
by riven-del
Summary: Set in Armada. When she isn't helping the Autobots recover Minicons, Alexis is helping a friend in need. Though the two are close, Alexis is about to find that there is more than meets the eye with the war going on between the Autobots and Decepticons as information on her friend's origins comes to light.
1. The Silent Classmate

It was a sunny morning in Lincoln, Nevada. For most, it was peaceful. For a teenage platinum blond girl, no so much as she made a mad dash out of her deplorable excuse of a home with a male's voice throwing curses at her.

Unbeknownst to her, she was being watched and followed. A black car secretly followed the girl without her noticing, though with how fast she wanted to get away from that house it was possible she wasn't paying any attention to anything else.

_This had better be worth it._

* * *

It was official: _math class was boring!_

Alexis had difficulty concentrating on today's lesson, and the teacher's monotonous style didn't help matters a bit. She was ahead on the work so she didn't worry all that much on the lesson. Instead she looked to her left to see a certain classmate she had known for some time.

This classmate had baggy, worn clothes and a poker face that kept everyone from knowing what the platinum blond girl was thinking. She was very closed off with the rest of her classmates, but Alexis was the only exception to this when they became friends before entering middle school together. Bullies never bothered her, and those that tried to bug her or someone who couldn't defend themselves were met with swift retribution. In a way, this girl was like a silent version of Optimus Prime, minus being a Transformer and being a general. That was her friend Terra though.

The bell to dismiss class today rang and that was when Terra spoke to her.

"Alexis," the soft spoken—a very unusual tone for someone that could stand her ground without hesitation—blond said making eye contact with her for the first time that day. She had to admit, Terra's purple eyes were extremely pretty and scary. "Can I come over this afternoon? Water got turned off."

"Sure," Alexis replied, knowing that Terra probably needed help for something else too. "I'll walk with you after school."

* * *

After letting Rad and Carlos know she'd be at the base later, Alexis and Terra walked over to her house. Her mother welcomed them home, always expecting Terra to be in tow.

"Terra, I washed your clothes you left here last time. If you need to take a bath, let me know so I can have the close you have now cleaned up," said Ms. White.

"Thank you, Ms. Smith," said Terra politely.

"Terra, you know better than that!"

"Sorry, Mom."

"That's better, now go get a bath." With that Terra left her school back in the kitchen and headed off to take a much needed bath.

Alexis sighed. She wished there was something she could do to help her friend. When she first met Terra, the girl had been running from her drunken foster father. She helped the girl hide, and since then they became good friends and Alexis's mother became a mother figure to Terra. And Alexis discovered the darker side of life that Terra had lived in for years. Her home life was bad, but somehow her foster parents were able to feign that everything was okay to Child Services. Terra was a tough girl and never allowed anyone to touch her in any way she didn't like, though that also resulted in some painful bruises curtesy of her foster parents.

"Alexis," her mom snapped her out of her musings. "Could you get some chamomile tea ready for Terra."

"Alright," she smiled went to make the tea. Despite her father walking out on them when she young and crippling them financially for some time, her mother welcomed Terra into their home as a second daughter and even planned on adopting the silent girl once she could find a lawyer to help with the legal stuff. For a moment Alexis wondered if once Terra was adopted that she should introduce her to the Autobots, since unbeknownst to them her mother knew after the older woman noticed her constantly hanging out with Rad and Carlos. Her mother was very understanding about the situation and always prepared a bag full of snacks and extra clothes for when she went to the Autobot base during the weekends.

She would have to ask Optimus and the gang later and see what they thought.

* * *

The black car was hidden from view as he observed the white haired girl interacting with one of the Autobots' pets. It appeared the two were very close, and the black Deception was more than glad his time hadn't been wasted.

"_Wheeljack to Megatron._"

* * *

Terra was walking home when she noticed the murdered out car following her discretely. She did notice it this morning, but paid no attention to it. So far it had followed her for three blocks. She was more than tempted to give it one hell of a wild goose chase, and then thinking on it she decided there would be no harm in it. Her foster parents didn't care what she did, so long as she remained alive.

She walked until she reached the forest area and then ran into the foliage with her pursuer hot on her tail.

* * *

_I do not own the Transformers, but I do own Terra. R&amp;R please! Thanks for reading!_


	2. Meeting the Team

What in the pit had he been thinking?

The human had been smarter than Wheeljack had expected of her species when she took off into the forest. He had to transform back into his bi-pede form just to go after her and he _still_ lost her! How had she outsmarted him so quickly?

* * *

_Looks like having a record for running away came in handy,_ Terra mused to herself as the robot continued to look on the ground for her. Of course that would be the only place for him—she assumed it was a he—to search; she had climbed the closest tree when he lost sight of her a few minutes ago.

The sound of an approaching car brought her out of her thoughts and the robot looked towards the sound with a scowl.

"I don't have time for you Auto-punks!" the robot snarled. "Stay out of this!"

A yellow sports car came into view and transformed.

"What are you doing here, Wheeljack?" demanded the new robot.

"That's none of _your_ business, Autobot."

"It is when the last time Decepticons were out in the open here and you guys kidnapped two human kids."

Terra decided that _now_ was the best time to skedaddle while the two robots were about the fight—she knew there were going to be fists flying in less than a minute. No sooner had she gotten five feet away did fists _and_ shots begin to fly. It didn't take her long to find her way out of the woods and also run into more trouble.

"Well, looky here!" cackled a helicopter she had failed to notice sooner. "The smart little mouse that managed to get away!"

_I think I just ran into the robotic version of Bevis; I guess robots can also be dumbasses,_ Terra though before turning to run back into the forest—

"Looks like you're caught, kid," a missile tank taunted her as two jets came up on both sides, effectively blocking her from escaping. She examined each one of the disguised robots, not once showing fear.

"I like this kid," the red and white jet said, "she's not as much of a weakling as the other brats."

"I just know that losing my head won't help me in this," she remarked.

"Hahahaha! She's more intelligent too!" said the odd looking jet. "This will make bargaining with the Autobots all the more easy!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Terra noticed something big, red and blue charging towards them.

"I have to ask: why do you guys need _six_ of you just to catch me?" she asked.

"Six?" the helicopter asked confused.

_**Honk-honk! **__Wham! _ The huge diesel truck slammed the tank and made it flip onto its side.

"Guess it was just five of you guys," she mussed loudly before the truck pulled back, and then came up to her and opened its door.

"Get in," it said, though it didn't have to tell her in the first place. She quickly jumped in and the door closed right before the truck took off.

* * *

Alexis and Sureshock were heading to the Autobot base when she heard the commotion and Optimus Prime in vehicle mode driving at high speeds. She and the Minicon kept going, knowing they needed to get to the base for safety and to not give the Decepticons any openings by getting taken hostage.

_**Honk-honk!**_

"Whoa!" she and Sureshock skidded to a halt when Optimus pulled up in front of them. "I think I had a mini-heart-attack!"

The Autobot leader opened the passenger door and said, "Hurry, Alexis! We don't have much time!"

Alexis and Sureshock climbed in and that was when they noticed the other passenger.

"Alexis!"

"Terra?! What are you doing here?"

The door closed and wasted no time in warping out of there and back into the base.

"Oh man," Terra groaned as she and the other two passengers got out of Optimus. "That did _not_ feel pleasant at all."

Optimus transformed back into his bi-pede mode and said, "I'm sorry about that, but we had to get you three out of there as soon as possible."

"Optimus, what's going on?" asked Alexis. "I thought you guys were keeping a low profile."

"Something changed; Wheeljack went after your friend here after she left your house."

"Could someone tell me what the heck is going on?" said Terra whom was still recovering from her first warp trip. "And Alexis, what in the name of the almighty did you get yourself into this time?"

Alexis glanced at Optimus and he gave her a slight nod.

"Well, Terra, it's like this…" While Alexis explained about the Transformers and how she, Rad, Carlos, and surprisingly Fred and Billy got involved in the ongoing battle between the Autobots and the Decepticons, they led Terra to the command center where the rest of the team was waiting for them.

"Dang, Alexis," Terra said as they walked into the command center. "I knew you attracted trouble, but this tops it all! Heck, I think you even took my job of be a trouble magnet without me knowing." Everyone chuckled at that, including Alexis. "But in all seriousness: why did the Decepticons come after me now? Why try the same kidnapping scenario when it failed before?"

"I wished I had an answer for that," said Optimus, "but enough of that for the moment. Allow my men to introduce themselves."

One by one the Autobots introduced themselves: Jetfire, the Second in Command, Scavenger, Red Alert, Smokescreen, Blur, Sideswipe, and Hot Shot introduced himself as he walked in, he was the yellow transformer that distracted the Decepticon in the forest.

"I think you already met one of the Minicons," Alexis gestured to the small Transformer next to her. "This is Sureshock, my Minicon partner."

Sureshock gave a slight wave and Terra awed. "You're so cute!" They all heard the Minicon's cooling fan kick in, indicated he was blushing.

"Now that I think of it: where are the boys at?" she asked. "Aren't they part of the team too?"

"Yeah, where are they?" Hotshot looked around. "They're usually here by now…"

"Yo, amigos! What's going on?"

"There you are!" Alexis turned to the boys that just got to the command center. "Where were you?"

"Just stocking up the mini fridge," said Billy. "Why? Did something happen?"

"Well, something would've _have_ to happen for me to be here," Terra said, drawing their attention. "Several Decepticons came after me to whatever reason and your buddies here had to extract Alexis, Sureshock, and I." The boys were understandably shocked to see her there.

"Rampage Terra?!" exclaimed Fred. He and Billy were pale as a ghost.

"Oh, stop your whimpering, you little babies! So long as you don't bully anyone, you don't have to worry about me getting on to you guys."

"Rampage?" Optimus inquired.

"Her nickname at school," Alexis explained. "Terra hates bullying, especially when it's directed at people who can't defend themselves. If it's bad enough, she goes into an unstoppable rampage until the bully learns his or her lesson."

"That's an exaggeration and you know it, Alexis," remarked Terra. "I've only gone on a rampage once, and that was because five high schoolers were trying to gang up on you."

"What about that football player you gave that atomic wedgie to for harassing one of the cheerleaders?" asked Rad.

"Or that creepy pervert that tried to grope one of the girls on the last field trip?" chimed in Carlos. "I thought you had castrated the guy with how hard you kicked him."

"What about the local bike gang that tried to turn the football field into a race track after school?" asked Fred.

"_Alright_, you made your point," said Terra as she pinched the bridge of her nose and the entire team laughed.

"Kid, you'll fit right in with the team! We're going to have a lot of fun," said a grinning Blur.

"Maybe you can teach your friends some self-defense," said Scavenger. "Would you mind to show me some human combat skills?"

"I won't mind at all, Scavenger," Terra smiled at him. "In fact, I could give you a list of martial art moves you could study."

"I would very much appreciate that."

* * *

Wheeljack was _not_ in the best of situations at the moment.

"Well, Wheeljack, what do you have to say for yourself?" demanded Megatron. "How difficult is it to capture one, single human girl?"

"It should have been easy," commented Thrust, "but that girl proved to be more intelligent than those other brats."

"Hm?" Megatron directed his irritated gaze to his most trusted strategist. "What do you mean?"

"Well, she kept a level head and didn't scream like the other brats do," said Thrust.

"She gauged in all possible options of escape when we surrounded her, Lord Megatron," Starscream spoke. "She even noticed Prime before any of us detected him."

"It might not be worth the time and effort to capture the little escape artist and use her as a bargaining chip." _That_ was out of character for Thrust and all present Decepticons stared at the tactician as though he grew an extra head. "What?"

"My lord," said Wheeljack and Megatron returned his attention to the former Autobot. "When I first scanned the human female, I got some strange results."

"Strange?"

"Yes, I picked up something similar to a Spark from her."

Cyclonus and Thrust busted out into insane cackling.

"Impossible!" exclaimed Thrust through his cackles. "Your sensors were probably malfunctioning." However, Megatron was deep in thought and Starscream was already going over the data pertaining to the day's events.


	3. Alexis Gains A Sister

It was _very_ late at night before Terra snuck into her foster home without her foster parents noticing. She didn't worry about _them_ too much; she was nearly non-existent to them unless they needed a punching bag. With that in mind, she moved her small dresser in front of her bedroom door to make sure nobody tried to barge in or attempt to molest her in her sleep.

The next morning she was up and out of there before they woke up. She didn't go far before Hotshot pulled up to her and opened the passenger door.

"Need a ride?" he asked.

"That would be nice," she climbed in, throwing her school bag in the backseat. She closed the door and the yellow muscle car took off.

* * *

Thrust watched the duo speed down the road towards the human's center of learning. He was able to perform a scan on the human before the Autobot picked her up, and was rather surprised to find that Wheeljack had been correct. The human had something very similar to a Spark in her chest; right above her heart to be exact! He _had_ to get his hands on her now!

* * *

Hotshot did curbside duty near the school, moving every so often to not attract attention. Since the Decepticons had tried _again_ to obtain human hostages, it was decided that their human friends needed an escort while outside the base.

The final bell rang and students began to file out of the building, all going their separate directions. Rad, Carlos, and Alexis walked up to the road and Hotshot pulled up.

"Terra will be here in a minute," said Alexis. "She needed to see the nurse."

"Is she sick?" he asked concerned.

"Not really, she just—"

"Hey! Terra's in trouble!" Carlos pointed back up to the school. Terra was trying to pry herself out of a man's grip. The dude looked like he'd never seen a salad in his life, nor seen a shower. They could hear the man cuss Terra out, even though she didn't say anything back or do anything to protect herself. Alexis and Carlos got into the back seat while Rad got into the driver's seat.

"Terra!" Alexis called out, keeping the passenger door open.

Terra finally broke free and made a mad dash towards Hotshot. She jumped into the passenger seat and the muscle car Transformer sped off while closing the door. In the rear view mirror they could see the man get tackled down by two police officers.

"Uh…You wanna tell us what just happened?" asked Hotshot.

"Amiga! How long have you been putting up with _that_?" demanded Carlos. "Wasn't that your foster dad?"

"That _was_ my foster dad," said Terra, "now he and his wife are facing criminal charges and jail time."

"So the nurse finally gathered enough evidence to prove they were abusing you?" asked Alexis. "That would explain why the police were there so fast if the school turned them in."

"Wait a minute! Back up and explain." Rad made a time-out gesture with his hands. "What exactly is going on?"

"Don't forget me, the robot in disguise that has no clue on what just happened and what you guys are talking about," said Hotshot.

They were all silent for a moment before Terra said, "I'll explain back at the base. I don't want to repeat myself more than once to the entire team."

* * *

Thrust cursed his luck and the disgusting human that delayed his mission. It appeared he would have to find another way to capture her, but for now he had to report back to the Decepticon base.

* * *

Terra and the boys of the human gang were on one of the catwalks in the command center with the rest of the Autobots. Alexis had gone off to take a call from her mother, but she knew what was about to be told so Terra saw no reason to delay the inevitable.

"So far I've only told this to two people: Alexis and her mother," Terra began. "Hotshot's already told you all about my foster father getting arrested at the school, and you all have expressed your concern about this. I haven't known all of you for long, but I believe I can trust you to tell no one else about this. What I'm about to tell you does _not_ leave this base, clear?"

"Understood," said Optimus Prime and the rest of the Autobots acknowledged her request.

"We wouldn't tell anyone outside of the team anyway," said Rad.

"Yeah, this isn't something anyone else needs to know," chimed Carlos. "You can count on us, amiga."

"Our lips are sealed," said Billy while Fred nodded his head while still munching down on some potato chips.

"Alright," with their promise to keep this a secret, she began, "My full name is Terra Alpha, and I'm an orphan. No one knows who my biological parents were, or when I was born. I was found next to the highway not too far from this town with a bracelet on my ankle with my name written on it in two different languages. The first was in English, the other language is not recognized as any known language."

"Two languages?" mumbled Rad. "That's bizarre."

"Indeed. What makes it even more bizarre is that no one else in the world has my surname; I'm the only one on Earth with this name. Since no one could find anyone with that name and with no one coming forth to claim me, I was put in the foster system. My first foster family was a nice couple that raised me until I was ten years old, and then they had a kid of their own and sent me back. I was then taken in by my current foster family that is now facing criminal charges. This couple didn't want kids, but they took me in for the money the government would give them that was meant to help take care of me. It was around the first month after they took me in that I met Alexis; she helped me hide from my foster dad one day when he went on one of his drunken rages."

"They abused you?!" asked a shocked Red Alert. Apparently this was a foreign concept to most of the Autobots.

"Yes. I'm guessing this doesn't occur very often among Transformers?"

"It's nearly unheard of, but it does happen," said Optimus. "Please continue."

"Alexis's mother caught on to this and helped me out on many occasions, even going as far as to get the school to help gather evidence against my foster parents. The only reason it took four years to compile the evidence is because my social worker found signs of tampering in the government documents concerning my case."

"Wait, so they're not only facing child abuse charges, but also federal felony charges?" asked Rad.

"Felony?" asked Optimus and the rest of the Autobots looked equally confused.

"Let's just say they're never going to get a job when they get out of jail," said Carlos.

"And they will never be allowed to foster kids again," added Terra. "Since they're being arrested for such charges, I might end up going to another foster home—"

"Actually, she'll end up becoming my adopted sister," said Alexis when she came back in the room.

"Adopted?" Terra asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Your social worker called me to ask if you were okay," said Alexis with a broad smile. "She also told me that you'll be staying with me and my mom from now on. Mom applied to adopt you months ago and now we're waiting for the process to get finalized so she can be your legal guardian. Mom wasn't sure if she'd get approved to adopt you, but in light of what just happed, your social worker said I might get to call you my sister in a few days' time."

"Sister…" Terra's eyes were as wide as dish saucers and before they knew it she had fainted on the spot.


	4. Of Sparks and Karate

"Why can't we just dump water on her and wake her up?" asked Carlos after he and Rad moved an unconscious Terra to the room set aside for the kids while they visited the Autobot base. "I'm not complaining that she's heavy or anything, but she's gonna sleep the day away."

"I think she deserved some R&amp;R after what happened earlier at school," said Rad. He and Carlos went back to rejoin the group in the command center.

"Will she be okay?" asked Hotshot once the boys were back.

"She'll be fine," Alexis said casually. "She'll wake up before you know it."

* * *

_She felt heavy and exhausted as she dreamt in total darkness until a piercing light momentarily blinded her. She heard a series of beeps, whirls of gears, and a variety of machine noises as she was placed into the arms of something huge and held close to something very warm. She opened her eyes to see only blurred figures looked down at her, and for some reason…she felt safe… _

* * *

Terra awoke, feeling a sense of dread almost immediately after waking from her dream. The dream itself was strange, but the sense of dread after feeling so _safe_ and _secured_ was unexpected. She felt like she was about to cry, that something bad was fast approaching and there was nothing she could do about it. She curled up into a fetal position and took deep breaths until she calmed down.

* * *

Megatron gazed at the planet Earth from outside the Decepticon base with a worried countenance. He had felt a tug at his spark; something he had dreaded feeling since he came to Earth to hunt the Minicons.

It meant _she_ was learning of her destiny.

It meant that the Chaos Bringer was waking up.

And getting the Minicons meant nothing now if the universe's greatest threat devoured Cybertron and the Allspark with it.

"Lord Megatron," he heard the Seeker that had come with him to Earth when the hunt for the Minicons started.

"You sensed it too." It was a statement, not a question. Starscream had come from a long line of High Priests of the Allspark. While the Seeker didn't have a strong connection to the spark of their creator like his ancestors once had, he still had the ability to receive vague messages and impressions from it the Allspark. Starscream knew what was bothering him, and why he had dreaded this day's coming while no one else knew. "I had hoped it would not have come to this."

"I had prayed to Primus for another way," said Starscream in a rare somber tone. "If we do not let _her_ succeed, then the greatest threat will continue to torment the universe until _she_ stops him."

"And nothing can change it?"

"Nothing. This was decreed long ago by the One, not long after the Chaos Bringer was casted out. Primus cannot interfere with this, even though our common enemy will try to change things."

Megatron continued to stare at the planet. He had to decide now to either continue with the hunt, or call it off and get back to Cybertron ASAP and ready the Decepticon armada. However, he had to make sure _she_ returned to Cybertron as well. He had a vague suspicion on who _she_ was on Earth if Smokescreen's and Thrust's reports were anything to go by. He knew the only way to make sure was to meet her in person.

* * *

Terra had pulled herself together and rejoined the group. Currently she was teaching Scavenger an ancient Karate technique that was no longer used in tournaments.

"This is called the Yamazuki," she explained as she demonstrated the move, using Rad as her demonstration dummy. "While most fighters are taught to protect their face on instinct, they won't be expecting _another_ fist to be flying at the same time down lower." Rad had blocked the fist aimed for his head, but his gut was left wide open for her free had to punch him at his center of gravity. "This throws your opponent off balance if you use this correctly. It is most effective as a first hit move."

Scavenger practiced the move on Optimus, correcting his stance to fully hit Optimus's center of gravity. Optimus practiced the move a few times before they continued on to another technique.

"Ahem," Red Alert made his presence known to the group. "Excuse me, but do you mind if I borrow Terra for a few minutes? I would like to examine her."

"Alright," Terra walked over to him and hopped onto his shoulder. "Rad can help you two if you have any questions."

"Thanks for the lesson, Terra." Scavenger called out to her as Red Alert walked away with her secured on his shoulder.

"Anytime, Scavs!" she called back before they left the room. "So, what do you need to examine me for, Red Alert?"

"It is just a standard medical scan," he explained. "With your previous living conditions, I'm worried about your overall health."

"Okay, but I should tell you: if you find something on my heart, it's nothing life threatening."

"What do you mean? Is something growing on your heart?"

"Well, yes, something _is_ attached to my heart. It's been growing with my heart my entire life and doctors have no idea what it could be. It doesn't affect my heart functions, and one time my previous foster family attempted to remove whatever it was. However, when the surgeon barely touched the thing, I woke up and screamed bloody murder."

"Weren't you under anesthesia?" The Autobot medic looked very shocked by this.

"Yes and the doctors were just as baffled as well. They stopped the surgery after realizing that it was more connected to my body than they first realized."

"Maybe this examination will reveal what this thing is."

When they got to the Medical Bay, Red Alert had her lay on an examination berth before starting the scan. A green beam of light went up and down her body and displayed the collected data onto a monitor for the medic to examine.

"What the…?" he said continuing to look over the data. When he reached the data pertaining to her heart, he froze for a long moment before contacting Optimus.

* * *

Optimus Prime called for a break with training when Red Alert commed him to come to the Medical Bay. It had been a little over thirty minutes after the medic collected their new human friend for an examination. Was something wrong with her?

The Autobot leader walked in to the Medical Bay to find Terra on an examination berth and Red Alert at the scan monitor.

"Red, you're starting to scare me," said Terra in a nervous tone. "What is going on?"

"I would like to know too," said Optimus.

"Good, you're here." Red Alert spent no time on enlarging the image of Terra's heart on the screen. Optimus hadn't seen the image of the human organ often, but he knew that a normal heart did _not_ look like _that_. "All of the data gathered during examination do not add up for a normal human. In addition to this, Terra has a Cybertronian Spark growing alongside her heart."

"What?!"

"A Spark?" Terra looked and sounded confused.

"A Spark is the equivalent of a soul for us," Red Alert explained for her benefit. "The fact that a Spark resides in her body without causing complications is a near impossibility since Sparks emit a type of radiation lethal to humans if they are fully exposed to it. However, with this and the strange data gathered, I can say that Terra might not have been originally human."

"Are…are you saying that…that I'm…" the girl in question tried to ask what Red Alert was getting at, though her panic was starting to take over.

"Do you have the bracelet you were found with?" the medic asked softly. She pulled out the tiny, beaded bracelet from her pocket and showed it to them. They saw her name written in English, and the unidentified glyphs were unmistakable for the two Autobots to recognize. "I thought as much. That language is an old dialect of Cybertronian."

"Indeed," the Prime tried not to appear shocked, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to hide his emotions after seeing _this_. "This is a dialect used by High Priests of the Allspark."

"What…what does it say?" she asked.

"It has your real name, and additional symbols indicating who your parents are and a special symbol. Your real name is Stardancer, and—"

Terra's eyes widened before she gripped her head and began to scream in pain.


	5. Ms Smith Is Scary

**_Riven-del:_**Thank you to all of you who reviewed this story thus far! It makes me very happy to know people are reading and enjoying this story! Enjoy this new chapter!

* * *

"What in the pit happened?" demanded Jetfire after Terra was sedated.

"I wished I knew," said Red Alert. The rest of the Autobots and the humans were in the Med Bay now wondering what happened to cause Terra to scream. "The bracelet she has has Cybertronian glyphs with her real name and the name of her parents. When we told her her name she began to scream."

"Her name? Wait, do you mean—" Alexis began but was cut off by Optimus.

"Terra is originally a Cybertronian, and is possibly a descendant of a line of High Priests which would explain a certain glyph on the bracelet."

"I think this would make more sense if you started from the beginning," said Scavenger. Everyone looked equally confused and remained silent as the medic and leader explained what happened. The group remained silent, digesting the new information about their friend, until Alexis began asking questions.

"If she is really a Cybertronian, then why does she look and act like a human down to the normal body functions?" was her first question, however it brought up some valid points that needed to be addressed.

"She isn't a Techno-Organic, which _could have_ explained it, but since she isn't we can only form conjectures at this point," said Red Alert. "For all we know her creators—or parents in human terms—might have turned her into human and sent her here for whatever reason they had to do so."

"Is that even _possible_?" asked Rad.

"I do not believe so, at least with our current technology," said Optimus Prime. "However, since the dialect was of the High Priests dialect, I have a suspicion that something else is at play, or more specifically: Primus sent Terra here for a reason."

The Autobots looked shocked while the kids appeared lost.

"Who is Primus?" asked Carlos.

"Is he your version of God?" asked Billy.

"In a manner of speaking; Primus is the Ultimate Good that created us and Cybertron. His Spark, the Allspark, resides in the core of our world, and the High Priests of the Allspark guard it and relay messages from Primus himself to the rest of us. If he sent Terra here on a mission, then we need to help her regain her memories and find out what that mission is."

"Now hold on a second," said Hot Shot. "Terra's been here since she was only a few Earth days old, how is she supposed to remember anything if she was sent here as a newly created sparkling?"

"She reacted to her real name, didn't she?" said Fred, showing a rare moment of intelligence beyond thoughts of food. "She's gotta remember _something_ if she screamed after hearing her own name."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean she'll remember her mission, Fred," said Billy. "What if her parents were only instructed to send her here and she never knew about her mission?"

"I don't know, this does seem a little too fishy to be coincidence," mussed Carlos who crossed his arms in thought. "I mean, Rad and I woke up the Minicons and brought you guys and the Decepticons to Earth, _and_ Terra just so happens to have been living in the area for the past fourteen years?"

"Honestly, I'm more worried about Terra," said Alexis. "If remembering caused her enough pain to scream like that, then I don't know if it would be a good idea to help her remember anything from her Cybertronian life." That made everyone shut up.

Optimus looked as though he were about to say something when they heard Terra moan. They all looked towards her just as she sat up.

"Oh, dear Lord," she groaned, palm on her forehead. "Tone it down, guys. My head feels like it got split open." She looked even paler than usual, making Red Alert scan her on instinct.

"Hot Shot, can you take Alexis and Terra home," said the medic. "She needs to rest."

* * *

The drive had been quiet and Terra had fallen back to sleep on the way home. Unfortunately, once she fell asleep she slept _hard_.

"She must be sicker than we thought," said Hot Shot in his holoform as he and Alexis dragged her into the latter's house and into the guest room. His holoform had sandy blond hair, blue eyes, and was wearing black pants with a black and yellow hoodie. Overall, he looked cute to Alexis's mom. Ms. Smith made sure Terra was tucked into bed before ushering them into the living room.

"At least it's the weekend, meaning she'll have plenty of time to recover," said the woman of the house. "Hopefully she'll be better in the morning; I want to take her shopping tomorrow."

"Shopping? For what?" Alexis inquired.

"Why, to update your new sister's wardrobe of course!" Ms. Smith said this with so much enthusiasm that Alexis and Hot Shot suddenly feared for their sanity. "It's not every day that we get to do something fun, and since the three of us have tomorrow off I thought we could spend the day together while getting proper attire for Terra!"

"Mom, did you suddenly turn into a teenager?" asked an extremely surprised Alexis.

"Or are you an imposter disguised as her?" asked Hot Shot. He had met the woman on several occasions and he had _never_ seen the woman act like _this_.

"Now, Hot Shot," the woman in question said, shocking the hell out of him, "would you be our chauffer tomorrow?" Something in her tone made it sound more like a command than a request. Hot Shot's holoform gulped, suddenly feeling very intimidated by the woman.

* * *

Optimus Prime noticed how fast Hot Shot drove back into the base nearly an hour after the yellow Autobot dropped Terra and Alexis off at their home. The Autobot in question transformed back into his bi-pede form once he reached the base, looking very frightened by something.

"Did something happen, Hot Shot?" he inquired, curious as to what spooked the brash warrior.

"I know now where Alexis gets her intimidating side," the young warrior said. Optimus couldn't help but smile as Hot Shot explained what happened between him, Alexis, and the older Smith. He had a suspicion that Ms. Smith knew of their existence with how much supplies Alexis kept bringing to the base every weekend, but to have coerced Hot Shot into being their chauffer for tomorrow's activities without using threats was downright amusing to the Prime.

* * *

Starscream was about to log into his personal computer when he received a vision…

_Optimus Prime was talking to one of the humans—Rad, he believed was this human's name—and from their body language he had a feeling it was an important topic they were covering. _

_ "Don't you think Terra should remember on her own?" said Rad, clearly concerned for this Terra person. "I mean, pushing her might cause more problems in the long run." _

_ "I know, Rad, but my main concern is getting that point across with _certain_ members of the team," said Optimus. "I don't think I need to tell you whom I'm referring to since they don't listen more than half of the time an order has been given." _

_ "That's true, but they could get punished if they did something to trigger a memory painfully," the young human suggested. "Like washing all the floors of the base, or clean the medical tools." _

_ "I'll have to confer with Red Alert on that last one," Optimus said with humor, "but other than that cleaning all the floors would be punishment enough to leave Terra alone until she remembers her life as Stardancer on her own." _

Starscream decided then and there to send them a message. He typed away, encrypted it in the old High Priest dialect—just because he didn't follow his ancestors' path doesn't mean he didn't learn something from them—and sent the message. Hopefully the idiots wouldn't cause any more harm to the girl than they already had done. Suppressed memories were a delicate case, and remembering too much at once did more harm than good to the person with said memories.

"So her name is Terra," he mused to himself. "At least we have _something_ to go on now."

* * *

Back at the Smith home, Terra laid wide awake in bed after dinner. Ms. Smith told her what they were doing tomorrow and the teen worried for her remaining sanity.

Alexis's mother had been itching to take them both shopping for some time, and now that the perfect excuse to blow money came up, Terra knew she and Alexis were going to have a hard time keeping her out of certain stores they wouldn't want to drag _any_ of the Autobots through. It would be good punishment for the boys if they did something to annoy them, but to show the Autobots a certain section of human clothing like that was embarrassing on so many levels and they didn't want to traumatize poor Hot Shot.

_So long as we stay clear of Victoria's Secret, we'll be A-Okay,_ she told herself until she fell asleep.

* * *

Scavenger was on monitor duty when he received a message addressed to the Autobot team.

"Red Alert," he commed the medic, "we got an encrypted message from an unknown source."

"I'll be right up," came the response not a second later. Red Alert came in several moments later and got to work decrypting the message. "Hmm…Interesting. This message is in the High Priest dialect found on Terra's bracelet."

"So someone knows who and what she is," it was more of a statement than a question. "Question is: who sent it?"

"Unknown. For all we know, her parents might have detected a change in her spark bond." He displayed the translated message on the screen.

_Do not push her. Let her figure out the puzzle on her own._


	6. Friendship Formed

"We are _never_ doing that again!" Terra proclaimed after she, Alexis, and Hot Shot returned to the Autobot base the next afternoon. "At least _not_ with _Mom_, but _never again_!"

"Agreed," both Alexis and Hot Shot said.

"At least you've got some nice clothes now," said Alexis.

That was true. Terra was now wearing a new white peasant blouse, jeans, a newspaper-boy cap, and new sneakers. When Hot Shot saw the cap in the store, he put it on her head and told her that it looked good on her. Alexis even commented that it looked right on her, like a trademark.

"So, dude and chikies, how did it go?" said Carlos in his usual teasing tone. It appeared that _everyone_ on the team wanted to know how the little debacle went. "Did you mentally scar our favorite muscle car?"

"Aside from Mom trying to buy thongs and trying to push me into lingerie stores, it could have been worse," Terra deadpanned.

"Seriously, does she _have_ to do that every time we go clothes shopping?" Alexis grumbled. "She has no shame!"

"We've unanimously agreed to never go shopping with her _ever again_," piped in Hot Shot. The entire team stared at them; Rad and Billy's faces twitched, Scavenger and Optimus's optics twinkled with amusement, Blur just looked bored, and the rest were snickering.

"At least we know where to take the boys for punishment now if they disobey an order," said Terra with an evil, mischievous gleam in her eyes that made the boys cower in fear and the snickering Autobots to laugh.

* * *

Starscream had monitored the human female that was Stardancer for a majority of the solar cycle until she returned to the Autobot base.

The spark she carried matched Stardancer's signature, and it pulsed very weakly in her human body. By now the spark should have a strong, steady pulse, very much like a human heart, but her spark appeared to have stayed in the Sparkling stage of development. It should have grown a little larger by now. Perhaps there was a reason for this; it was possible a normal spark would be detrimental to a human's health.

Starscream warped back to the Decepticon base soon after his patrol on Earth.

"Starscream," Wheeljack immediately got hold of the Seeker when he materialized in the warp room. "I got your readings on the human girl and noticed something. It's barely there, but the spark pulse has gotten stronger since yesterday."

"Send me the data now." A moment later he was comparing yesterday's scan with the new scan and did find that the human's spark pulse had indeed become stronger in a barely noticeable amount. "Wheeljack, how many Minicons have been recovered total by both factions?"

"All of them have been uncovered, sir."

"No, there is one more on Earth, and I have a feeling that we're not going to get it."

"What? Why do you say that?"

"Do you remember the shuttle pod that was launched nearly 14 Earth years ago? It contained a precious cargo with a Minicon guard to protect it."

"I'm confused," said the former Autobot. "How do you know there was a Minicon on that pod? And why did we not try to take possession of it if it did have one?"

"I was there when the pod was launched, and it was Megatron who ordered the Minicon to protect the cargo."

The young mech appeared shocked and predictably asked, "What was so important on that pod if Megatron ordered a Minicon to guard it?"

Starscream stared the mech in the optics for a long moment. "I cannot say. It is for Megatron to reveal. Encrypt the data pertaining to the human; there are few certain mechs we cannot trust with this data."

* * *

Red Alert had requested Terra to come to the Med bay for a checkup sometime after she arrived at the base.

"Your spark pulse has somewhat increased, but other than that your healthy," he said once the scan was done.

"Spark?" Terra sounded genuinely confused. "Isn't that like a Transformer's soul?"

"Yes, we discovered this yesterday," he replied, now getting confused himself. "Remember? I brought you in for a physical after you told us of the abuse you went through."

"We did?" She thought for a long moment before she said, "I don't remember anything from when you brought me into the Med bay and when I woke up."

"Is there anything you _do_ remember of that time?"

"No, it's completely blank. I don't remember anything of that time frame."

Red Alert digested this new information. He remembered the message they received last night; maybe it wasn't time yet for her to learn her real name. Maybe when she regained enough of her memories on her own, they could tell her who she really is and who her parents are.

"Aside from the memory loss, I see nothing wrong with you." He told her calmly. "You can go back to sparring with Scavenger now."

"Alright. Will you tell me if you find something new? I _do not_ like mysteries, especially if it concerns my health."

"I will, now go on. I'm sure your old friend is waiting for you."

"Okay, see ya later," she chuckled before leaving the Med bay. Red Alert commed Optimus Prime to inform the Autobot commander about what had transpired just moments ago.

* * *

Terra walked hurriedly back to the sparring room. She and Scavenger had become good friends with their interest in the martial arts, not to anyone's surprise. The elder Autobot was more than eager to learn Earth's many forms of self-defense, and Terra gladly taught him everything she learned from her Sensei.

Cybertronian self-defense was not as diverse as Earth's martial arts. They were beings that relied more on their weapons than their two giant, metal fists and feet. When Terra had shown the Autobots various videos of self-defense that humans practiced, they were surprised and impressed. Though Blur had asked why the humans had so many forms of hand-to-hand combat.

"We did not always have guns and vehicles," Rad had said. "Before we had these powerful weapons of mass destruction, we had swords, shields, and our muscles for weapons. The various forms of martial arts are a result of people wanting to defend themselves from the big bullies."

Terra had thrown her own two cents in at that point, "It was not common for the lower classes to have weapons such as swords and such. They had to learn how to defend themselves without the use of weapons and thus we have karate, Taekwondo, jujitsu, and so on." Since then, Terra became the sensei of the Autobots in a way.

A series of beeps brought Terra out of her musings. A Minicon—Sparkplug she believed—was trying to get her attention. She was about to ask what the matter was when the alarm went off and the yellow Minicon dragged her to the command center. Every Autobot had gathered and were clearly confused.

"I thought all the Minicons had woken up," said Hot Shot.

"Yeah, what gives?" asked Carlos. "Is it another trap?"

Highwire beeped repeatedly, apparently explaining something to Rad for him to translate.

"Highwire says this Minicon was tasked with a special mission," Rad told them. "It didn't come with the rest of the Minicons when they left Cybertron."

"We'll have to get the details later," said Optimus Prime. "Surprisingly, this Minicon is very close to the base. Just outside the city limits from the looks of it."

"You're kidding!" Fred exclaimed. "That is _weird_!"

"You kids stay here, we'll—"

"Whoa! Are you trying to pull my arm out, Sparkplug?" Terra shouted as she was dragged by the Minicon towards Optimus.

"Sparkplug?" The Autobot leader asked his Minicon partner. The little Minicon stared at the large Cybertronian for a moment before beeping. "Do you want her to come along?"

Another series of beeps which Rad translated as, "She _has_ to come."

Apparently the rest of the Minicons thought the same as they all beeped in agreement.

"Alright, but Terra has to stay out of the way," Optimus conceded. "Got it?"

"Aye, aye, Captain!" she mock saluted and stepped towards the elevator. Unknowingly she stepped onto one of the squares that transformed her clothes into an orange jumpsuit with the Autobot insignia and a pin of the symbol appeared on her cap. "What the heck!? A little warning next time, please!"

Everyone just chuckled and they proceeded to the warp room.


	7. Terra's First Mission

_How the flipping hell did I end up in _this_?! _ Terra asked herself while squeezing through a tight passage in the dessert. Once the Autobot team dropped her off near a canyon where they detected the Minicon, she had made like a lizard and began scurrying through the rocky place trying to locate the thing. That was over half an hour ago and she was starting to get a little cranky. Why couldn't there have been a tunnel leading to it?

As thought fate decided to be mean and laugh at her, she finally stumbled onto a large cave with a tunnel at one end. She would have yelled out in frustration, but the giant, gray shuttle in the middle of the large cave caught her attention. It was unmarked, at least from what she could see from her view point, yet she had a sense of déjà vu when she gazed upon it. She pulled out Lazerbeak and turned on the little spy-bot.

"You guys seeing this?" she asked her friends that remained behind at the base. "This thing has got to be the length of a football field at least and probably a few feet taller than Optimus."

"You would be right, Terra," said Red Alert. "That's an emergency shuttle pod; it looks like it was designed for long distance traveling, but I can't be sure what the cargo could have been until you go inside it."

"I'm going to guess that the Minicon is…" She trailed off when a door opened and a dark blue Minicon stepped out. Its white visor regarded Terra closely, as though examining her. "Uh, hi there?"

The Minicon beeped and beckoned her to follow it into the shuttle.

"Be careful, Terra," said Alexis through Lazerbeak.

"Will do." She followed the Minicon into the shuttle and made sure to record everything. The Minicon lead her to the center of the shuttle and to an orb like capsule roughly her size.

"What is it?" she heard Rad.

"That's a stasis capsule," said Red Alert. "They're for deep space traveling; they put a Cybertronian into stasis until the shuttle reaches a planet. This one was made for a Sparkling, or a Cybertronian baby in human standards."

"Hey, Terra? Are you okay?" asked Fred. "You're awfully quiet."

She didn't respond. She just stood there staring at the pod…

* * *

_She whimpered while clutching the armor of a large, purple and green Cybertronian as energon blasts flew behind them. The big mech did his best to keep her calm, but the newly born Sparkling couldn't help but feel scared. _

_ She suddenly felt a shot of pain in her Spark and she wailed. _

_ "Souldancer!" the big mech cried out in anquish as he momentarily stopped to see the femme fall dead. Without losing a beat, he continued onto his destination with the crying Sparkling in his arms. She didn't notice when he placed her in the warm pod until he started to whisper, "Shh, little one. Everything will be alright." She calmed down somewhat to the sound of his voice and he continued, "We'll meet again, little one. Until then, stay safe, and know your Dani and Opi love you, Stardancer." He kissed her helm and closed the pod. She heard his muffled voice say something before stasis took over… _

* * *

Megatron fired at the cliff wall until he found the tunnel leading to the shuttle. The Minicon had hidden it well; even the Autobots hadn't realized there was a tunnel they could have blasted open for Terra to go through. His Spark pulsed rapidly, sensing the Sparkling Spark nearby.

That may be the reason why he let his guard down.

"Stop right there, Megatron!" he heard his longtime nemesis command and he turned around to face Optimus Prime. "You're not getting this Minicon."

"Hmph, who said I was going after the Minicon?" he taunted the Prime.

"What?"

"Why, that girl looks like she would make a fine pet. She is more well behaved and level headed than your other pets. Maybe she can keep me company when we start our journey back to Cybertron." He couldn't allow the Prime to know too much about the girl too soon, so as much as he detested this he had to make it look like he was only interested in obtaining a hostage. This also served to rile up the Prime too. _I think I overdid it,_ was his thoughts before Optimus's fist collided with his face.

* * *

Terra slept on unaware of the battle edging closer to the cave. The Minicon had placed her on a medical table and began monitoring her Spark beat while Lazerbeak kept a close watch on the two.

"Why won't she wake up?" asked Rad.

"I don't know, but this is a bad time to take a nap," commented Carlos.

The Minicon suddenly left the monitor it had been occupying before and went to another one. After a moment, diagrams of a mountain bike appear and the little Transformer hooked itself up to the computer.

"It's getting itself a vehicle mode?" said Alexis. After a moment, the Minicon's armor shifted to accommodate the changes for the vehicle mode and soon it disconnected from the computer.

"Hey, Terra's waking up finally!" said Billy and sure enough they all heard Terra moan in pain.

"Terra, can you hear us?" asked Red Alert as the newest member of the team sat up and barely opened her eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I can hear you, Red," she replied weakly and tried to stand up. Tried being the key word since the Minicon had to rush over to balance her. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

"Terra, Optimus is fighting Megatron outside the tunnel connecting to the cave. I advise to stay where you are until one of the others comes to get you and the Minicon."

"Light Racer…" At everyone's confused inquiries, she elaborated, "His name is Light Racer…"

* * *

Hot Shot was speeding around trying to get Cyclonus off his tailgate. This had been going for five minutes until Blur finally shot the crazy helicopter and grounded the Decepticon.

"Thanks, Blur," he said to his comrade over the comm. link.

"No problem. Optimus and Megatron are just a short distance away from you; think you can go grab Terra and the Minicon while everyone else is busy?"

"Leave it to me. I'll get them out in no time." He sped off towards the battle between the two leaders. He didn't waste any time analyzing the situation; he sped through and into the tunnel at the fastest speed he could go. Red Alert had commed them earlier to tell them that Terra had found the Minicon, but was now in no condition to move. "Hey, Red, how's Terra doing?"

"Not good. While her condition hasn't worsened, she's unable to keep her balance and whatever happened has left her exhausted," said the team's medic. "Once you secure her and the Minicon, I'll warp you three out of there ASAP."

"Roger that. I'm almost at the cave now." The shuttle was in sight and he didn't stop until he was at the open door. He revved his engine, letting Terra know he was there. After a few moments both her and the Minicon came out while the little Transformer supported the physically weak girl. "Red wasn't kidding, you look awful, Terra."

"Gee, thanks," she deadpanned while getting into the back passenger seat while the Minicon got into the front passenger seat.

"Get us out of here, Red Alert."

* * *

Optimus Prime steadied himself after getting pushed back several feet by Megatron and prepared to retaliate when Red Alert informed all of the Autobots on the battle field that Terra and the Minicon had been secured.

"Everyone pull out!" Optimus ordered and the team warped back to base. Megatron glared at the spot where the Autobot leader stood mere moments ago before giving his own men the order to warp back to base.


	8. Memories

_She squirmed and cried at the highest frequency her vocal box could sustain. Strong arms held her gently and securely as she made her displeasure known to the world. _

_ "She's here," she heard a female voice, though it sounded as though it were spoken in a different language. The voice had spoken with mechanical sounds, but she fully understood what was being said. "I can't believe it! She's finally here! Our little Sparkling!" _

_ She felt two beings brush against her Spark, as though caressing her. The love and joy the two beings felt for her nearly overwhelmed her newly on-lined processor, yet they both knew when to dampen down the newly created bond. _

_ "She's perfect," a male voice said, making the Sparkling realize her Sire was the one holding her. "She is just like you, Souldancer. She is a Dancer." It was clear the new Opiluk was proud. _

_ "She looks like a little star," the female cooed. _

_ The male chuckled before saying, "I think we have found a designation for our little one." _

_ "And what might that be, my sweet spark?" _

_ "Stardancer. Her name should be Stardancer." _

_ "Stardancer…" the female played with the name, apparently approving of it. "It's perfect! Maybe one day she'll truly dance among the stars." _

* * *

Red Alert kept a close optic on Terra and Alexis. Terra was now sleeping off the effects of recovering part of her memories in the Medical Bay and Alexis refused to leave her sister's side. The boys had gone home nearly three hours after the Minicon had been recovered, and yet Alexis had refused to budge from her spot next to Terra.

"How are they, Red Alert?" said Optimus Prime as he entered the Med Bay. They both looked towards the berth that held the two sleeping sisters.

"Alexis fell asleep over an hour ago," he reported quietly. "Terra is sleeping off having so many memories flood her brain. It looks like she can finally start remembering who she really is; whatever memory block was in place is now gone."

The Autobot leader pondered on this. He had wondered when this would happen. Now the question became: was it time to tell her who her parents are? Terra's Sire was very much _alive_ and on Earth looking for the Minicons.

"Has Mrs. Smith been informed of this?" asked Red Alert.

"Hot Shot contacted their mother after everything settled down. She'll inform their school that they're sick and the boys can bring their school work to them."

"It might be best if we allow Mrs. Smith to visit the base. She already knows of us and it would help if the kids had an adult figure around base."

"We'll discuss this with the kids tomorrow. We should all get some rest for now."

* * *

Megatron fumed, not only over for losing a Minicon to the Autobots, but also over not recovering Stardancer. His subordinates left him alone, knowing to stay the pit away from him.

_No more games,_ he seethed.

**:Starscream:** he commed his Second in Command. **:Is the decoy ready?: **

** :Yes, along with the human living quarters in the ship.:** Leave it to the Seeker to think ahead when it comes to Sparklings and Younglings.

**:Good. Tomorrow, Stardancer will be brought back to where she belongs.: **


	9. Terra Meets Megatron

Alexis and Terra stayed with the Autobots the whole day. As soon as Red Alert cleared Terra, both of the girls made themselves useful around the base. Currently they were giving the Minicons a much needed wash and nearly half of them were cleaned by the time Optimus came in to check on them.

"Well, this is unexpected," he said, his smile hidden behind his face mask. "They sure look a lot better and happy." The cleaned Minicons beeped in agreement as the girls continued with their work.

* * *

Rad, Carlos, Fred and Billy made their way to the Autobot base after school with Grindor and Highwire disguised in their vehicle modes. Blur was secretly following them, but they did spot him a few times.

"Dudes, it's weird not seeing Terra or Alexis at school," commented Carlos. "They're the poster kids for perfect attendance."

"At least none of the bullies decided to have a hay day with the Rampage gone," said Fred. "I'd hate to see her come back all mad and stomping through the school like Godzilla."

"Are you kidding me? Godzilla's got nothing on her when she's mad," said Billy.

"Yeah, she makes Megatron look tame."

Rad suddenly came to a halt with Highwire beeping at him curiously. Carlos, Fred and Billy had to turn around and go back to him he stopped so fast.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Carlos.

"I just thought…" mumbled Rad.

"You thought what?" Billy verbally nudged.

"Terra shares a lot of features with Megatron."

"Huh?" all three boys said.

"Think about it. They both have purple eyes, and their scowls are almost identical." The boys actually began to piece together the similarities between the two.

"Now that you mention it, she does have a temper like Megadweeb."

"Come to think of it, purple eyes aren't natural for humans." Billy said, sounding intelligent for once. "I mean, sure, there are contacts that can change eye color, but Terra was born with purple eyes. The only other being that comes to mind with purple eyes is Megatron."

"Wait a second! You mean—" Fred started and Rad said, "It's a possibility. If Terra remembers enough, we can ask her to confirm this."

* * *

Terra walked through the base, not really paying attention to where she was going. Her mind was a jumbled mess with the murky memories she received yesterday and it was very distracting if not annoying. It didn't help that Light Racer kept following her wherever she went; the new Minicon had appointed itself to be her guardian.

"Hey, Light Racer?" she said to the Minicon. "You wanna go for a ride?" It beeped in agreement and they both left the base.

* * *

Starscream was observing the human boys heading to the Autobot base when he noticed Stardancer out riding around on a white bike. She appeared to be enjoying herself and no one else was with her.

**:Starscream to Megatron,:** he commed his commander. **:I've located Stardancer outside the Autobot base.: **

** :Perfect. The decoy has just been launched. Send me the coordinates now.:**

* * *

Most of the Autobots were assembling in the Warp Gate after receiving a signal on their monitor. Red Alert and Scavenger opted to remain behind incase this were a trap.

Alexis was currently in the Control Room with Sureshock getting the computers set up to monitor the mission. It wasn't long before the boys showed up.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Rad.

"We picked up a beacon a short while ago," replied Red Alert. "Optimus and the others are going to investigate." The Warp Gate activated and the recon team was gone.

"Wait a second, what if it's a Decepticon trap?!" said Fred going into full paranoia mode.

"Yeah, and they know the location of the base," Billy chimed in.

"Uh, guys, where's Terra?" Carlos finally noticed the newest addition to the team's absence.

"She went out for a ride with Light Racer," Alexis explained while pulling out her cell phone. "I guess I'd better call her and tell her come back."

* * *

Terra and Light Racer were having fun when her phone began to ring. They stopped in an open area at the base of the mountain and Terra answered her phone.

"Hey, Alexis," she greeted her sister. "A signal….Okay, we're on our way. See you in a…" She heard something rumble toward her and she turned to see an unusual tank heading straight at her. "Uh, Alexis, are any of the Decepticons a purple and green tank?"

"Transform!"

"Gotta book it! Bye!" she hung up her phone, shoved it back into her pocket, and pedaled as fast as she could away from the giant chasing her. Light Racer beeped frantically while adding its own speed to their escape. They made a bee line back to the base when the red and white jet from the other day forced them to detour. "Well, this ain't good," she said while steering towards the forest only to be detoured again by the other Decepticon.

"Cease this pointless game," the Decepticon began before she and the Minicon sped off again. She heard him growl and chase after her when she noticed Scavenger fighting the red and white Decepticon.

"KICK HIS ASS, SCAVENGER," she shouted while speeding past them. She didn't realize it until she had past them that she and Light Racer were heading straight toward a dead end. "Let's go up higher, Racer!" That was soon scraped when laser shots were sent to either side of them continuously. She let loose a stream of swear words and heard her companion scold her in its own language. "Yeah, I know I'm gonna get the soap treatment later."

They came to the dead end and were forced to stop. They turned to face their pursuers whom had ceased firing at them. The Decepticon smirked while his Minicon jumped off his shoulder.

"You have spunk, Stardancer," he said and chuckled when she gasped. "Don't look so surprised, sweetspark. Before you were Terra, you were the Sparkling of two well-known Decepticons." She felt a tug in her Spark. It was a familiar sensation, but what did it mean?

"Who are you?" she demanded, trying not to completely lose her head. The purple and green Mech actually looked disappointed at that. _Wait…purple and green!_

"Do you not recognize your Opiluke, Stardancer?"

"J…Just answer the question!" She was losing her cool now. She didn't know what to do. Her father—her Opi—was a Decepticon.

"I am Megatron, Leader of the Decepticons, and your Opiluke."


	10. Captured Dancer

Terra was frozen in place. She _knew_ Megatron was telling the truth; the Decepticon Leader was her Sire. Her knuckles were turning pale from how hard she was squeezing Light Racer's handles and the Minicon beeped worryingly.

She knew Megatron had done a lot of bad things. He'd threatened the lives of her friends multiple times, nearly killed the Autobot that welcomed her to the team, and wanted to enslave all Minicons in his quest for power. How could she _not _be afraid, if not shocked, in this situation?

"Stardancer," the Cybertronian said gently to her, "it's time to come home. I've missed you so much…" He knelt down and slowly reached toward her—

"TERRA, MOVE!"

Terra snapped out of her daze and Light Racer sped off to the side just as Megatron suddenly collapsed. Red Alter stood several feet behind him with his blaster pointed at his enemy. Preceptor had shown up during the chaos and kept Megatron's Minicon busy while she and Light Racer raced toward their friend.

"Get back to the base! We'll hold them off," Red Alert quickly told them and the pair wasted no time getting out of there.

She didn't know what happened next. All she knew was there was a deafening boom and she was airborne. She could've sworn she heard someone called her name before everything went black.

* * *

Megatron had just stood up to face the Autobot that dared to get in his way when a wayward blast from Leader-1 hit the ground right next to Stardancer and her Minicon. The combatants stopped to see the girl launch from the Minicon and landed unconscious a short distance away.

"STARDANCER!" He shoved the Autobot aside with enough force to create an indention into the cliff wall, but his entire attention was trained on his Sparkling. The white Minicon had already transformed and began tending to its unconscious charge. He was by her side in seconds and waited for the Minicon to step aside.

"Get the hell away from her, Megatron," he heard the voice of his arch nemesis growl and he looked up into the blaster point directly at his face.

**:Megatron, the decoy failed!:**

** :As the humans say, "Thank you, Captain Obvious"!:**

"Get out of here before I remove you by force." Optimus Prime growled.

"You cannot keep me away from my daughter, Prime," he growled back. "How long have you known?"

"Since she showed us the bracelet with Cybertronian glyphs."

"You've knowingly kept my Sparkling away from me?! Do you have a death wish, Prime?" He was beyond furious. How dare he hide his Sparkling from him!

"She isn't a Decepticon, Megatron—"

"DO I _LOOK _LIKE I CARE IF SHE IS A DECEPTICON OR NOT? YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO KEEP MY DAUGHTER HIDDEN FROM ME!" He stood and fired at the Autobot leader, forcing him to move back.

Leader-1 finally threw off Preceptor and grabbed both Stardancer and the Minicon. Megatron quickly scooped them up into his servo, shielding them from the fight. His Minicon quickly attached a specially made collar onto Stardancer's neck and the Decepticon leader activated the Warp Gate.

* * *

Alexis couldn't believe what she was seeing. Red Alert was knocked out. Optimus had sustained a number of injuries. And Terra…_her sister_ of a few days, had been kidnapped.

_No._ This couldn't be happening. Terra _couldn't_ be gone! This was a bad dream that she would wake up from and find that her sister is still with them.

"Alexis," she heard Rad. "Don't worry. We'll get her back, no matter what." She didn't respond, but Carlos decided throw in his two cents.

"Terra knows how to take care of herself. Heck, she'll probably drive the Decepticons crazy enough to make them send her back."

Alexis just turned and slowly walked out of the command center.

* * *

Megatron watched the white Minicon situate Stardancer onto the berth made for her human form. He had to admit, Starscream did a superb job in accommodating every human need for Stardancer.

The room was the same size as his own quarters, which was quite large since he was the leader. There were many objects for Stardancer to entertain herself with, and also a cleared space for whenever her Seeker urges begin to kick in. She would not get bored any time soon on their trip back to Cybertron.

_It's good to have you back, sweetspark,_ he smiled before turning to exit the room.


	11. Rampage

Heads were going to roll. Terra knew that was certain when she woke up and discovered she was now in the Decepticon base. Her Sire could have _talked_ to her, ask her if she wanted to get to know him, but _no_ he had to be an idiot and kidnap her!

_Marauders, eat your heart out_, she grinned. The Rampage was on the loose.

* * *

"_How in the pit did she manage to do this?!_" Demanded a rather colorful Megatron, once the rest of the Decepticons had assembled in the throne room the morning after Stardancer's capture. Each of his men were painted in an assortment of colors; overall they looked like a failed tie-dye experiment on a large scale. "First she escapes and now this!"

"That Minicon with her has to be assisting her," said Starscream. "They should have been separated after their capture."

"Oh, believe me: when they're found, they won't be seeing each other for a _long_ time."

* * *

The first thing Terra did upon escaping her prison was to check out the warp gate. The Decepticons apparently used a different system to lock and operate their warp gate than the Autobots, so she and Light Racer couldn't use that to get back home. At least, not until they figured out how it worked.

In the mean time she did the next best thing: give her captors hell. She was glad she recorded their reactions; it would be a hilarious video to share once she got back. Maybe she could hack one of the computers and send it to them as a way of letting her friends know she was okay.

She scratched the area around her collar again, wishing she could take it off. Her Minicon companion had made it clear taking it off would be inadvisable where they were. The base was located on the Earth's moon, and the Decepticons did not have a human safe atmosphere in their base.

Light Racer started beeping, notifying her that the Decepticons were busy putting the final touches on their space ship. It was their chance to send the video to the Autobots!

They stayed in the air vents in order to stay out of sight and only came out if they had hit a dead end. They came across Megatron stomping away from the throne room, obviously still pissed at her tie-dye prank and how long it took to get the colors off. The two had a few close calls with a few Minicons, but for the most part no one noticed them. After making sure the coast was clear and no one was going to barge in on them, they finally reached a computer station to send their message. Terra uploaded the video she made and typed a quick message to her friends before sending it.

"Hopefully this'll ease their worries while giving them a good laugh," she muttered.

"There you are!" A voice said, making Terra jump as Thrust made himself visible. "Megatron would like a word with you two."

Light Racer immediately transformed and the two sped off down the corridor. Thrust chased after them until a huge hand swept both the Minicon and human up off the floor.

"Tidal Wave catch princess," said the oversized Mech holding the two. "Tidal Wave take to Megatron."

"Good work, Tidal Wave," said Thrust. "Now, hand them to me so…" He trailed off when he realized the huge Mech wasn't listening to him and walking towards the space ship to see Megatron.

"Thrust annoying," the large Mech said, making Terra laugh. "Stardancer funny. Prank good idea."

The use of her Cybertronian name brought up a question from Terra, "Did Megatron tell the crew who I am?"

"Megatron say we holding human as pet," was his reply. "Crew doesn't know about Stardancer. Crew only thinks we have Terra."

It took her a moment to process Tidal Wave's fragmented statements. Apparently, not all of the Decepticons knew about Stardancer. Megatron hadn't informed them they were housing his own daughter, only a human pet. Apparently, Tidal Wave was more observant than given credit for, and since he found her prank to be amusing, she might be looking at her partner in crime while onboard the Decepticon ship.

"Tidal Wave, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

The giant Mech chuckled at this and continued heading towards the ship.

* * *

Megatron was starting to become impatient when he spotted Tidal Wave walking towards the ship with both Stardancer and her Minicon in his grasp. The warship Transformer walked up to him and handed over their human guest.

"Good work, Tidal Wave," he said while keeping a firm grip on his mischievous daughter. "Lock up the Minicon in the brig and then you may return to your duties."

"Tidal Wave obeys," Tidal Wave replied and headed towards the brig, ignoring Stardancer's protests. Megatron gave her a slight squeeze and she immediately fell silent.

"This is your punishment," he growled at his daughter. "You and your friend will be separated until I see fit to release him. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir," she grounded out, obviously keeping her attitude is check.

"Good and I expect you to remember this lesson." He entered the ship and proceeded to Stardancer's quarters where he unceremoniously dropped her on her human berth. "You will remain in your quarters unless escorted by me or one of my men. Your meals will be brought to you by one of the Minicons, and you will be expected to 'clear your plate' as the humans say. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

He stared at her for a long moment, trying to gauge what was going on in her mind. Finally he vented and said, "Please don't make this any harder than it already is. I don't want us to be on bad terms when we have just reunited."

"It takes both sides to make this work, Megatron," was her reply.

"I know, and I hope we can reach the point of getting to know each other soon." With that he walked out and locked the door. Without the Minicon, he didn't have to worry about her getting out so easily again.

* * *

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Alexis demanded as the boys dragged her to the Autobot command center the morning after Terra's kidnapping. All the Autobots were gathered as well, and Sideswipe and Hot Shot were having difficulties suppressing their snickers. Optimus hit a button on the main computer and a video began to play.

Five boxes showing the Decepticons popped up. Each one looked to be asleep in what appeared to be their individual quarters, and then Terra and Light Racer appeared with buckets of pain in tow. The two proceeded to paint each Decepticon in their sleep, making them all look tie-dyed. As each Decepticon woke up and discovered they'd been pranked, near hysterical laughter filled the command center. Thrust's squawks of indignation were by far the most entertaining. When the video feed cut off a message appeared.

_Miss Rampage hereby declares a war of pranks on the Decepticons._

"She's okay!" Alexis exclaimed in relief.

"See? What did we tell you?" said Rad when he stopped laughing.

"She'll be back with us in no time!" Carlos fist pumped.


	12. Stardancer's Choice

Terra laid on the bed, clutching her heart and breathing heavily. She had been held by the Decepticons for a little over a week now and she was missing her family like crazy. It didn't help that her heart hurt; the pain just randomly started yesterday without warning.

_I wonder if this is what heartache feels like,_ she wondered. Her heart ached, physically and metaphorically; she couldn't even begin to describe the pain she was feeling. According to Starscream, Megatron was experiencing similar pain as her; their Sparks were reforming the familial bond between them.

Her Spark had been slowly getting stronger since her first encounter with the Cybertronians; being in close proximity with her Sire had sped up the process to the point where Starscream kept her under twenty-four hour watch for the past two days. Her tiny body couldn't handle it.

For the first time in a long time, Terra was afraid for her life.

* * *

Megatron clutched his Spark as he made his way to Stardancer's quarters. He needed to get to her. She was afraid, afraid for her life. He needed to comfort her. She was his daughter; every fiber of his being screamed at him to go protect her from whatever she was afraid of.

His subordinates knew to stay away from him. Starscream didn't even try to stop him from going to Stardancer. Megatron needed to stay with his offspring for however long it took for the bond to reform.

By the time he reached her room and punched in the code to let him in, Stardancer was unconscious. Being as gentle as possible, he picked her up and held her close to his Spark. Immediately the pain lessened for the both of them, but his Sparkling was still distressed. Of what was causing her such anguish, he did not know. All he could do was hold her until she woke up. He turned and left her room; they would be more comfortable in his quarters until the bond settled.

* * *

Rad had no idea what to do for Alexis. She and her mom were worried sick over Terra. While everyone was worried about her, those two were affected the most.

"Hey, Rad," said his best friend, Carlos. "Do you think Terra's doing okay? I mean we haven't heard from her in days."

"Terra's a fighter; I'm sure she's okay." He tried to reassure his friend. "If anything, she'll find a way to get back to us."

"Yeah, you're right. She'll probably give them holy hell before escaping."

* * *

She dreamt she was with her family and friends, including the Autobots. She smiled as Alexis held out her hand, and then she heard Megatron call out her name. She turned and he was rushing towards her just before a fissure appeared between them and another between her and her family.

_You have a choice to make, little one,_ a voice resonated in her dream. _Will you choose your Sire, the Mech that took part in bringing you into the universe, or the family that you found here on Earth? _

"Why should I have to choose between them?" she asked. "They both took part in what has made me…well, _me_."

_Choose, little one. _

She didn't have to think on it. She knew it wouldn't be a choose one or the other scenario in any case.

"They are both my family," she responded. "Both are equally important to me and without either of them I would not be who I am today."

_Even though you were just reunited with your Sire?_

"Yes."

_How will you coexist between two enemies?_

"I will find a way for them to make peace with each other."

The voice was silent for a long moment before saying, _Well done, Stardancer._


End file.
